Look at Engineering Schematics for More Than 70 Different Cocktails

Engineers have a reputation for being a bit overanalytical—even when it comes to their drinking habits. That’s probably what led to one engineer’s latest project. Shaan Hurley decided to have a little fun—and he decided to do it in the most engineer-y way possible. Hurley, who by day is a technologist for the 3-D software company Autodesk, re-created a diagram from 1972 that outlines 70 classic cocktails using the modeling software AutoCAD.

The mock-ups are broken down into two groups—those that are whiskey-based and those that are not—and are surprisingly accurate. As Fast Company explains, “At first glance, I was ready to dismiss these CAD Drinks as a rather shallow visualization of what goes into making even classic cocktails. The opposite is true: Once you learn to read the schematics, you'll see that each chart contains everything you need to know to mix a classic cocktail, right down to what glass you should serve it in and whether it should be shaken or stirred.” Granted, you need to know how to key, and I don’t think anyone would argue that these schematics are any better than just using a recipe. But let’s just let the engineers have this one.